Trevor Burrows

Two #FirstSentences for the price of one:

"During the whole of a dull, dark, and soundless day in the autumn of the year, when the clouds hung oppressively low in the heavens, I had been passing alone, on horseback, through a singularly dreary tract of country; and at length found myself, as the shades of the evening drew on, within view of the melancholy House of Usher."

-- Opening sentence of Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" (1839)

and

"Across the flyleaf of my old *Commemorative Edition of the Works of Edgar Allan Poe in Ten Volumes, Volume I* (the only one I owned), a strong hand had written, 'I hate Poe,' and signed my name. The hand was mine."

-- Opening sentences of Daniel Hoffman's *Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe* (1972)

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Will use this thread for reading notes on some Poe and on Hoffman's book over the next week or so. Details to follow.

#EdgarAllenPoe #Bookstodon #DanielHoffman #NowReading

Oct 23 at 2:31amWeb
Show threadTrevor BurrowsOct 23

Realized I didn't have any fiction specifically lined up (although plenty around to choose from!) --- and since it's approaching the 31st, thought I'd hang out with Poe for a while.

But I've also had Daniel Hoffman's *Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe* on my bookshelf for a while, having read a rave about it ages ago on a blog and soon after found it at a used shop.

So thought I'd read that, along with some actual Poe for a bit, who I haven't read in a while. Have the Library of America Poe volume at my side. Should be a fun, informative (and occasionally spooky) pairing!

No plans for how I'll tackle the Poe. Will probably just follow the rough order of Hoffman's discussion, as seems reasonable. The first specific Poe tale he mentions, beyond epigrams and the preface, is "The Fall of the House of Usher."

Show threadTrevor BurrowsOct 23

"Misery is manifold. The wretchedness of earth is multiform."

-- First sentences of Poe's "Berenice"

which I read this morning... and I guess that's one way to start the day, lol.

Not a new Poe story for me but way more effective and heavy than I remember it from prior reads.

Reading back to back w/"Fall of the House of Usher" is informative.

Obviously lots of similarities: a corrupted/corrupting line of descent, a gothic mansion, a story centered upon a psychologically-tortured male and, somewhat at the margins though central to the story, a (missing) ill woman. But Berenice is first-person, told from the perspective of the central male Egaeus. "Fall" is narrated from the perspective of a visitor. And of course "Fall" puts much more emphasis on the house itself, though the house plays no small role in Berenice.

Show threadTrevor BurrowsOct 23

Even though Berenice predates the Fall by a few years, it feels like a more condensed and concentrated (and more gruesome) variation of the latter.

The other common piece is both male leads' "illness" has some element of obsession (or, what Egaeus calls nervous "attentiveness," even as he contrasts it with an attitude of speculation).

(I'm just thinking out loud here. No real profound thoughts, just some notes.)